To support a variety of charities, The Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office will allow its deputies to participate in “No Shave November”—all year long.
The effort comes after a highly successful 2021 No-Shave event that raised around $4,000 in two months.
According to a press release, the fundraiser gave $2,595 to the American Cancer Society and $1,260 to Special Olympics Louisiana. And the remaining money was split between 22 other organizations, which included the Wounded Warrior Project and the American Red Cross.
Capt. Brennan Matherne, a spokesperson for the office, told Fox News that close to 125 employees participated in No Shave November, including a handful of women.
The women wore jeans to work every Friday as long as their specific job allowed it.
To raise the funds in 2021, the deputies paid $25 a month to grow their beards, which is a privilege that is not normally allowed for law enforcement employees. The office also allowed people to pay the fee for casual Fridays.
And this year, the office will continue the fundraiser for a monthly donation of $20.
“After what we’ve been through in the past two years, I figured there are plenty of great causes to allow this to continue all year,” Sheriff Craig Webre said in the release.
As of January 13th, around 100 Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office employees had signed up for the fundraiser.
The Louisiana Sheriff Loosened Dress Regulations After Hurricane Ida Hit
Sheriff Webre began to reevaluate his strict dress policy after Hurricane Ida devastated the area in August. The storm killed 82 people and left thousands without homes.
“In the wake of Hurricane Ida, I think, it caused us to reevaluate a lot of things,” Matherne said. “Having such a life-changing storm, Sheriff Webre made a number of changes that he had kind of bucked the trend of the past 30 years.”
Because the floods displaced so many people, some of the deputies had no way to clean their uniforms. So Webre allowed them to wear their utility uniforms instead of their class-A uniforms. The sheriff also allowed his deputies to wear their summer uniforms all year long.
And after relaxing the dress code standards, he decided to give No Shave November a shot.
“This was all an effort to raise morale in the wake of the worst disaster that our generation has seen in our area,” said Matherne.
“It does help and it does raise morale,” he added. “The response has been amazing.”
The press release also noted that many law enforcement offices around the country are beginning to loosen their facial hair policies.
“Beards have become more commonplace and accepted in our society, even in professional settings,” Webre said in the release. “The public has had a positive reception to our deputies’ beards. I’ve even received positive comments myself, so I will be participating along with many deputies. And it’s all for great causes.”
